March 31, 2011

This year is music reminds me of... one of those orgasms that just sort of fizzles out and you're like "That was it?" I struggled to find enough truly great songs for this list. Here, in no order, are my favorites for the first quarter of 2011. Normally I have a few rules, like these tunes not having to be singles (still true), but this time I am allowing more than one song by each artist, or else there would be nothing here! The colored link will take you to youtube, where you can hear/see the song.

March 28, 2011

These are such treacherous times in the music biz that it's dangerous to get attached to developing artists. If they release a single that doesn't fly, they're done (just ask MPHO, Alex Gardner, Mini Viva, Ed Drewett, etc etc). London artist Yasmin is about to release her second single, Finish Line and - this is rare these days - she ticks all my boxes. Great track (she writes her own stuff), lush club mixes, stunning face, solid video, cool artwork. And now we hear that she is recording her long-player with none other than Starsmith (Ellie Goulding, Kylie, etc), among others. Let's hope some harsh record exec doesn't break our hearts, because this single transcends the malaise pop music is in right now (think anything with the ubiquitous Dr Luke sound).

Finish Line isout May 8th... and can anyone tell me what the yeah-yeah-yeah interpolation is at 2:35? [Update: It's the ad libs at 2:47 onStevie Wonder's As, also covered by George Michael & Mary J Blige]

and her 2010 single, On My Own. Both songs have a pleasing touch of the 90's

1 White horses and fog. In Stevie's LA backyard.2 Ye olde Renaissance fair styling mixed with...3 Shockingly, Stevie in a black pantsuit working a Maryann (True Blood Demon) thing4 The same damned pier Patrick Wolf hangs out at with his Abercrombie crew5 A bunch of little girls you just know are Stevie's godchildren, nieces, etc etc6 One of those girls posing as a trendy, Wilson Phillips-y faux vampire7 Tacky McMansion with murals and Scarlet O'Hara staircase moments 8 The legendarySharon and Lori, Stevie's ye olde background lady singers9 Two Stevie staples: twirling and spoken word bits about herself said from a third person POV10 Dave Stewart inserting himself into the visuals far too often. Exit stage, David.11 A cute owl, a Stevie Nicks variant of "putting a bird on it."

The first single from the album, Secret Love, is on sale now. In this juicy-as-fuck new Guardian piece, she says the song is so old (1972) she "honestly cannot remember" which rock star she wrote it about. She also says a new Fleetwood Mac album is due in 2012 (Note: reason to live), and utters this gem of a quote about Sheryl Crow adopting children:

I want to have complete freedom. Sheryl does not have complete freedom now. She doesn't! But that's what she wanted. She wanted a baby. And I have a Yorkie Chinese crested dog. I'm happy with that.

And yes, Stevie's people (or coven, as it were) are on Twitter, though she famously vowed never to do it.

March 23, 2011

Live Those Days Tonight is the first single from Friendly Firessecond album, Pala. I am torn*. The sound is massive, percussive pop. Not surprising considering Paul Epworth produced it. The chorus is tremendous, but the verses - aside from a cool stabbing sound - are not as strong. And the middle eight is a chant, which is another way of saying copout.

I have great expectations for Pala. Ed MacFarlane is a sexed-up popstar with all the right moves. You know... the type who kisses anyone and everyone while drunk off his ass. Check out his wiggling hips in their last video, Kiss Of Life, below.

Pala is out May 16 in the UK and May 24 in North America. Live Those Days Tonight, in its full 5-minute form, is for sale now oniTunes US (and probably elsewhere, if could be bovvered to check.) Paul Epworth recently talked about the album, calling it a "game changer."

*UPDATE: THIS SONG IS MASSIVE. Here is the first performance of it, on Jimmy Kimmel:

March 21, 2011

Last weekend, The Independent published a great piece by Sam Delaney called Pages Of Innocence, with the subtitle "Devotees are creating an online archive of the magazines that chronicled their youth." It covers the burgeoning number of online blogs - they highlight three - that scan partial or full issues of British music magazines, most now defunct.

Awhile back,I blogged aboutBrian McCloskey's excellent site Like Punk Never Happened.This is an amazing source for full issues of Smash Hits, moving chronologically. He is up to March 1981, as of this post. My God, that is THIRTY years! Life flying by in song.

There is an irony to The Independent piece that says a lot about big business media in 2011: Nowhere in the online version is there an actual link to any of these blogs. They just don't get it, do they?The record companies are now catching up; not so The Independent.

Though the CD is dying, it's not dying as fast for the 30-60 year old demographic that might be remasters right now. From my viewpoint, these new magazine sites work in tandem with labels (like Cherry Redand Rhino) who are remastering/packaging older CDs. News and critique-based blogs like So Hip It Hurts and The Second Discare indispensable sources of info.

March 17, 2011

Still stuck on my lady Stevie Nicks. I'd never seen this performance until this year - it's mind-blowing, especially the dancing during the middle eight. I am reminded that I will never live out my dream of being a Solid Gold Dancer in very tight pants. I have nonetheless mastered the primary move of throwing my head back...

March 16, 2011

There are very few women who can dye their hair Bozo the Clown red and still look so cool, so beautiful.

Amen. I love Rihanna. Her new record, Loud, is not her finest (that's a split between Good Girl and Rated R), but I love how she plays the pop star game with a kind of do-what-I-want elan.

The title of this post comes from Emerald City Sequence in The Wiz. I'd love to hear Rihanna remake this tune since color - or lack of it - is such a driving force in her music and visuals. If you don't know this song, it's discotastic. Hear it now.

March 14, 2011

That's a previously unseen (sort of) Richard Corman picture of Madonna that Out debuted today. It was taken in 1982, before she released her debut album, when she was about 23. There is something about these pictures that makes me yearn for the 80's - everything seems so pure here. What a brilliant pop star. Take a look at the full set.

Scritti Politti finally released a hits CD this week, Absolute. It has two new songs:Day Late and a Dollar Short (like Scritti produced in Britney's studio) and A Place We Both Belong. Singer/songwriter Green Gartside spoke to The Guardian last Tuesday.

Depeche Mode will release Remix 2: 81-11 album in April. Rumored to feature Rihanna, of all people. Dave was featured this weekend in a NYT style piece on Godfathers of Glam.

Crap sentence from Janet Jackson's shitty new self-help book: "My childhood was a powerful and often perplexing combination of experiences that were wonderful as well as challenging." Wow.

The Guardian has a video of Patrick Wolf playing a new ballad, Armistice, from his soon to be blowing my mind album, Lupercalia. It's gorgeous and reminds me a lot of the sound of the moody Wind In The Wires, my favorite Wolf album.

We are just a few weeks away from the CD version of Duran Duran's All You Need Is Now. Hear samples of the new songs now.Too Bad You're So Beautiful sounds like a highlight. For US fans, note that the Best Buy edition has a unique track called Early Summer Nerves (also a part of the Amazon UK edition). More on various special edition detailsat DD's site.

Sarah Nixey, whose Sing, Memory was one of the better pop records of 2006, is coming back with a second solo disc in May. Called Brave Tin Soldiers, it's a more stripped own affair - details very soon.

Speaking of Britney, this week I got the new Scritti Politti compilation. That record has a new song called A Day Late and A Dollar Short that I said sounded like Scritti meets Titney. You can hear an interview with Scritti maestro Green Gartside via the Music Weekly podcast.

The Feeling. I am not sure their single Set My World On Fire - hear a 60-second sample of here- is going to do anything. I have not heard the whole thing yet, so I could be wrong, but it seems like zero growth for them musically. I have higher hopes for the full CD, but I've kind of moved on from this sound. MyfizzypopPaul will not be happy with me for saying this!

William Orbit thinks Madonna's directorial debut, W.E., is Oscar worthy. I doubt it, but he has done music for it. Billy Bubbles also gained some notoriety for admitting his Britney collaboration had been dumped from her new record.

90's babies: Great news about Suede. This summer they are releasing uber deluxe editions of their 4 albums, each with two CDs and a DVD, so.... bonus tracks and footage, the works. Cleverly, they release one a week for five weeks starting May 30. My favorite Suede album is Coming Up (the tracklist is AMAZING) - that hits on June 13. If you don't know that album, get ready, it is fucking TOPS. Amazingly, you can order the double CD Best Of for 3.99 on Amazon UK!___________________________________

Follow me on Twitteror friend me on LastFM! It IS my birthday week after all...

March 13, 2011

Just at the moment when I'd been feeling a bit despondent about the state of pop music, especially new artists, along comes the quite literally glorious Marques Toliver. 24 years old, he sings, he write his songs, he plays violin with a shivering intensity. And comes from Florida - Daytona Beach of all places. To paraphrase Madonna, "in the evidence of his brilliance," here is Marques singing White Sails on Jools...

Marques' debut EP, Butterflies Are Not Free, is released in the UK on April 25th. Marques talks it up on his blog. The EP will also be made available worldwide very soon. Tracklisting:

March 11, 2011

Keren Ann's ubercool new single, My Name Is Trouble, reminds me a bit of the work of Bertine Zetlitz, Anneli Drecker and even Feist. It's almost electropop, but a bit more cerebral and indie electro suggests.

Keren Ann was born in Israel and raised in Paris. She's released several albums, but gained wider attention for an eponymous English album back in 2007. Her newest record, 101, is out in the US on March 22. I've barely delved into the album, but agree with Loïc of It's Pop! that this single is its highlight.

The minimalist video for My Name Is Trouble is brilliant: the styling and dance moves are simultaneously simple and iconic. Keren Ann herself reminds me ofSigourney Weaverduring certain shots, but her hairstyleis inspired by Joanna Lumley!

She is an enigma. We don't have stars like this anymore. So original and smart and artistic. We have a few new ones, Florence Welch being the obvious one. You just know Florence reads all sorts of weird books and likes pre-Raphaelite paintings, etc. Rufus Wainwright grew up loving opera. Little Boots? What the hell moves her soul? Sometimes I feel like, as time goes on, we idolize people who don't have any curiosity. They don't have influences other than really shallow ones like, sorry, Madonna. And it's a vague kind of influence. Nothing MOVES them emotionally. Really, what moves Ke$ha? Drugs, Jack Daniels and cock?

There's a song called Bermondsey Street, which is a love song for a straight couple and a gay couple. It's for the straight couple to realize that the gay couple are experiencing the same emotion of love, but that it just happens to be between the same sex. I wanted to try and eradicate the prejudices that come with gay love. I also love The Days, which is like a wedding waltz song, and Together, which has a classic disco production with an amazing string section.

The tracklist for Lupercalia:

1. The City video2. House3. Bermondsey Street4. The Future5. Armistice6. William7. Time Of My Life video8. The Days9. Slow Motion10. Together11. The Falcons

Guillemots are back just one year after their lead singer,floppily-tressed Fyfe Dangerfield, released his crisp, lovely solo album, Fly Yellow Moon.Their new record, Walk The River, is out on April 11 in the UK. Though the first single is the crunchy The Basket, the band are giving away the title track for free!

Word is fromHoly Moly that Walk The River is a sad album, which is brilliant... sad music is THE BEST.Here is the track-listing:1. Walk The River2. Vermillion3. I Don't Feel Amazing Now4. Ice Room5. Tigers6. Inside7. I Must Be A Lover8. Slow Train9. Sometimes I Remember Wrong10. The Basket11. Dancing In The Devil's Shoes12. Yesterday Is Dead